SEM

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) means promoting things you are selling through paid ads on search engine result pages. The goal is to make more people notice your business.

It is like making sure that when someone looks up stuff on Google or other search engines related to what you are offering, your ad shows up in the results.

SEM uses the way people think online – when they see ads that match what they want, they are more likely to buy. It tries to leave a strong impression on their minds.

So, SEM is a strong way to reach your business goals. People search for things like yours by typing words on Google or Bing.

You choose a type of SEM based on how much money you want to spend, how much you want people to know about your brand, and how quickly you want to make sales.

Search engine marketing can become overly complex in a hurry. There are several types of search engine marketing (SEM) campaigns, such as pay-per-click, content marketing, and contextual ads. It might seem like a lot to handle and remember for someone working online.

This guide about different types of search engine marketing will talk about the most common SEM strategy and clarify how they operate. This way, you can figure out which ones could be suitable for your next online marketing effort for your business.

SEO vs. SEM: What's the Difference?

SEO and SEM both aim to help websites appear higher on search result pages, but they go about it in diverse ways. 

SEO

It involves arranging content in a way that makes it show up prominently in natural search results, those listings that are not paid for. Key points about SEO are 

It works by understanding some of the secret factors that search engines like Google use to rank content. SEO methods are always changing to match the new rules search engines follow. Results from SEO show up just below the paid ads on the search page. Successful SEO is about creating content that is valuable, trustworthy, and respected. SEO experts do things like: Getting more other websites to link to a page (called backlinks).  Building trust by having a secure website, good traffic, and engaged users. Making sure the website is easy for users to sail and use (good user experience or UX).

 SEM

Which stands for Search Engine Marketing, is a strategy that uses paid ads to get more visitors to a website. It involves using services like Google ads or Bing ads. Here are the main points about SEM:

• Keywords are important: SEM starts with finding the right words that people might use to search online. Just like how SEO experts do it, SEM marketers also use tools to figure out the best words. They then pay to show ads on search results for those words.

 • Ads are on top: When you search for something on Google or Bing, you will see some results at the very top with a small "Ad" label. These are the paid results from SEM. 

• Easy-to-read webpages help: For SEM to work well, the website needs to be easy for the computer programs that scan the internet (web crawlers) to understand. It is also good to have links to other reliable websites on your page.

In short, SEM is about paying for ads on search engines to get more visitors, and it is important to pick the right words and have an informative website for it to be effective.

Different Kinds of Search Engine Marketing. There are several types of Search Engine Marketing that people commonly use: 

• Pay per Click (PPC) 

• Local SEO

• Organic SEO

You can also learn more about these types by checking out Google's Digital Marketing Courses. Here is a quick overview of each type of Search Engine Marketing: 

Pay Per Click (PPC) 

(PPC) is a way of advertising online where the advertiser is charged each time someone clicks on their ad. This type of advertising is also called Sponsored Ads or Sponsored Search.

One popular type of PPC ad is the Paid Search ad, which appears next to regular search results. These ads are activated when people search for certain keywords. PPC advertising also includes Display ads like banners and remarketing.

The Way Pay-Per-Click Advertising Works 

You might think that paying more money would make your ads appear more often than your competitors'. But that is not how it works. Luckily, there is something called Ad Auction that determines how ads are shown. Most search engines use this system to make sure the ads on their pages make sense and are relevant.

Ad Auction is a fancy term for a computerized command system. To take part in this bidding, advertisers choose specific keywords related to their ads and decide how much they are willing to pay for their ad to show up when those keywords are used in searches.

They also set a maximum amount they are willing to pay for each click on their ad. Spending more money on ads might help you compete for popular keywords, but it does not guarantee that your ads will always show up.

For instance, let us say someone is searching for cleaning supplies like disinfectants, phenyl, brooms, or mops. They might type in the keyword 'cleaning solutions' in their search. If your business sells cleaning solutions, you will want your ad to appear when they are looking for stores that sell those products.

How Ad Auctions Work in Simple Terms

When you search for something online and use certain keywords, ads related to those keywords might appear. This happens because advertisers want their ads to show up when people search for specific words. 

Now, there is a kind of competition between these ads to appear on the search results page. Imagine it as a game where the ads with the best combination of factors get to show up. These factors include things like how much the advertisers are willing to pay, how relevant their ads are, and how good their keywords are.

The advertisers must be smart about picking the right keywords because they have to pay a little bit of money every time someone clicks on their ad. So, they want to make sure the keywords they choose are the ones that will bring them the most customers.

There are tools, like Google AdWords and Bing Ads, that help advertisers find the best keywords. The ads can show up at the top or bottom of the search results page, and Google puts labels like 'Ad' or 'Sponsored' on them to show their ads.

When you set up your ads, Google looks at how good your keywords and ads are. They give your keywords a score to see how relevant and useful they are. This score helps decide how much you must pay when someone clicks on your ad. Your score, along with how much you are willing to pay, decides where your ad shows up on the page.

So, briefly, when you search for something and see ads, those ads are there because advertisers want you to see them. They compete against each other, and the ones with the best keywords and willingness to pay get to be on the page. It is like a mini contest to get their ads in front of you! 

Local SEO 

Local SEO is a way to make your business easy to find on the internet, especially for people nearby. It is like putting your business on a map so that when people search for things like a "dentist" or "grocery store" in their area, they can easily find you.

When you use local SEO, you try to show up on a special part of the search results page with a map. This is important because it helps local people see your business and its location. To make this happen, you need to do a few things, like making sure your business is listed correctly on Google Maps, managing reviews and ratings from customers, being active on social media, and making sure your website works well on mobile phones.

Getting superior results with local SEO can take a bit of time, usually a few months. It depends on how many other businesses are trying to do the same thing. Some things that affect how well your business shows up include having correct and complete information online, being in the right category, being close to where people are searching from, having good online reviews, and having a website that works well on phones. 

Organic SEO 

It also known as Natural SEO, works differently from other types of Search Engine Marketing. Its goal is to make your business show up in the regular, unpaid search results when people look for things online. This is done using tactics like finding the right keywords, building links, and more.

Unlike some other searches, organic SEO does not focus on local searches or paid results. It aims for a broader, more general search, not tied to a specific place. And the best part? You do not have to pay for clicks to your website. 

When you search for something online, you see several types of results. There are paid results that businesses have paid for, and then there are organic results. Sometimes, if there are local results, they come before the organic ones. These organic results can look like regular blue links or other types of information, like snippets of knowledge.

If you want your website to show up in these organic search results, there are things you can do. It might take about 4-6 months, depending on how well you work on your website and how many other websites are trying to do the same thing.

Search engines like Google want to show people the best and most relevant results. Organic SEO is about making your website and content good so that it deserves to be at the top. To get there, you need to follow some strategies:

 • Content Creation: Make interesting and high-quality material for your website. This will get more people to visit your site, link to it, and leave reviews, which helps your ranking. You can even use things like videos and cool pictures to make your content more attractive and keep people interested. 

• Keyword Research: Figure out which words people are using to search for things and put those words in your content. This makes it more likely that your website will show up in search results. 

• Internal Linking: Add links in your content that take people to other pages on your own website. This helps people explore more of what you have to offer.

 • Website Design: Make sure your website looks good and is easy to use. People should be able to find what they want quickly, and your site should not take too long to load.

 • Backlinks: When other websites link to your website, it shows that your content is valuable.

So, if you want your website to appear when people search for things online, and you want it to be right up there on the top, you need to focus on organic SEO strategies. These strategies involve making great content, using the right keywords, linking to other parts of your website, having a user-friendly design, and getting other websites to link to yours.